Monday, September 19, 2016

South County Explodes

For years overshadowed by North Sarasota, sleepy little South County is waking up with a roar. Bulldozers, construction workers and brand-new gated communities cover a swath from S.R. 681 in Nokomis south to Toledo Blade and I-75, just outside the southern North Port city limits. More than 33,000 new residential units are already planned for the decades ahead, bringing an estimated 54,000 newcomers by 2030 and sparking new businesses of every sort. “It’s a place where people want to be,” says Venice Mayor John Holic. “It’s no longer a secret.”

Here’s a look at some of the major projects that will transform the region in the coming years.

South County Stats

Nearly half of Sarasota County’s population of395,000 now lives in SOUTH COUNTY

South Sarasota County, which measures368.92 square miles has a population of178,268 nearly60,000 more residents than in 2000.

Growth estimates will reach 191,445in five years and 232,270 by2030

The area isolder, whiterand has ahigher percentage of women than the nation overall.

The median age in South County is 58.3

The population is 91.4 percent white And 52.2percent are women

North Port

West Villages

A new city is rising south of Venice, one that will alter South County just as Lakewood Ranch has transformed Manatee County east of I-75 since it was announced 20 years ago. Called the West Villages, the community has a Venice zip code but became part of North Port more than a decade ago when North Port annexed the former Taylor Ranch. The annexed community is separated from North Port’s former northern border by about nine rural miles. But that separation will disappear as the West Villages develops.

Canadian-based Mattamy Homes, North America’s largest privately owned homebuilder, saw the potential to build a city in a growing retirement area and bought thousands of acres for the West Villages several years ago. The company looked at legendary planner John Nolen’s blueprint for downtown Venice, and New Urbanist communities, such as Celebration, for inspiration.

“It’s 9,800 acres within a mile and a half from the beach,” says Marty Black, the West Villages’ general manager (and Venice’s former city manager), who helped Mattamy find the property. “There aren’t many parcels left like that.”

Mattamy will build 23,000 residential units and 3 million square feet of commercial development over the next three decades. The West Villages is a community development district, which can tax residents to build infrastructure. It has a governing body and functions much like its own city. But it’s not just the sheer number of homes that will change North Port. The mammoth development also is aimed at a more affluent market.

For years overshadowed by North Sarasota, sleepy little South County is waking up with a roar. Bulldozers, construction workers and brand-new gated communities cover a swath from S.R. 681 in Nokomis south to Toledo Blade and I-75, just outside the southern North Port city limits. More than 33,000 new residential units are already planned for the decades ahead, bringing an estimated 54,000 newcomers by 2030 and sparking new businesses of every sort. “It’s a place where people want to be,” says Venice Mayor John Holic. “It’s no longer a secret.”

Here’s a look at some of the major projects that will transform the region in the coming years. . .

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